Initial Lament Inlaid With Opals

once there was turquoise and a silver sigh
a herd of dreams, no word for goodbye
once there was.

once there was snowdrift spun so fine
and I thought every day was mine
when I looked out on all the pines

all the pines.
while I was sleeping free from care
there came a noise upon the stair

there came a noise.
it promised peace and such ideals
a place to rest with all my meals.

all my meals. and I'd sell flowers from the fields.
how long ago that day seems now
when all my life without a row

they swallowed, swallowed whole somehow
when I went with a gipsy band
and left my mother and my grands

without our even knowing then
my lot was cast
but not with friends.

mary angela douglas 20 april 2020; rev. 14 may 2020